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Sunday, June 5, 2011

I'm Dying

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When I was younger, the sight of a cemetery depressed me and saddened me. I’ve come a long way since then. A few days ago, I happened to be standing on elevated ground overlooking a cemetery on both sides. Instead of sadness, I had this feeling of comfort and clarity.

If you are to die soon, what would you want to do before your departure? Think about that. Do you want to feed the hungry? Serve another segment of the human population? Apologize to someone. Bring three people to God? Sing in front of people? Visit Spain. Bring 300 people to God? Make sure your family’s taken care of? Produce a music CD? Visit Fiji. Bring 3,000,000 people to God? Leave your message whether it is in the form of a book, a blog, an audio form, a video form, and/or any other form? Do you want to do some or all the above?

“Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking that you have something to lose.” - Steve Jobs

Well guess what? You are going to die soon. I am going to die soon. We are all going to die soon. Not necessarily tomorrow or even next year. (Unlike the cults, I am not predicting the end.) Even if I live for 30 more years or 60 more years, that is still soon. Ask anyone above the age of thirty and they will tell you how fast the years go by. As a Chinese adage goes, “There are not many ten-years in life.” If you are above thirty, you already know this, but maybe you just need a reminder.

“There are two certainties in life – death and taxes.”

So, with this lesson or reminder brought to your attention, what do you want to do now? Do you want to continue to stay on the common path of just surviving or just existing, and never truly living the life you were meant to live? I understand that you have to be “realistic” and you can’t just change course immediately because you have to make a living. However, I think you should at least start thinking about it daily. Have the intention daily, if you want to get out of the common mode of just existing.

“Upon continuous intention, visualization, and prayer, the “how” will come and it will be done.” - Shu Chan

Here are two simple recommendations for you. You could do this while lying in bed before falling asleep. If you ride public transportation to work, you could do this during that commute time too:

1. Think about what you want to do with the rest of your life, knowing that you will die. Keep what you want to do in your daily intention.